Tonys Host Alan Cumming Confesses He Doesn't Know Much About Musicals

As an actor best known for his multiple outings as the master of ceremonies in various revivals of Cabaret, you'd think that Alan Cumming could hit up a piano bar with the best of them. But that isn't actually the case.

The host of this Sunday's Tony Awards told Seth Meyers that during a visit to New York's famed Broadway hangout Marie's Crisis, he was asked to sing one of his songs from the show. "I’d had a few drinks, and in the middle of the song I forgot the words!" he told the Late Night host on Wednesday.

In fact, it turns out that Cumming has always had his back turned slightly away from the Great White Way. "I just don’t know that many musicals," he said—which might make things a little awkward during Sunday's lifetime achievement award presentation to Tommy Tune.

“It’s sort of like being in a weird kind of virtual reality dream for me, because we’re dancing and singing in a sort of mash up of three very famous shows that Tommy Tune has done," he said. "None of which I know and none of which I really understand so I’m just like, doing it like a robot, like a dog learning tricks!"

Despite his insecurities, we expect that he'll pull it off flawlessly.

Click the video above to hear him dish about his Tony Awards co-host Kristin Chenoweth's real feelings about the song "Popular" from Wicked. (It turns out she hates it!)